Netherlands to Fly JSF in December

THE HAGUE, 11/10/13 - Dutch
pilots are to start flying the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) or F-35
this year already, Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis has told the Lower
House.

At
the end of this month, four pilots will start the theoretical
training, after which they will start flying the JSF in December. The
pilots will be prepared for the operational test phase to begin in
2015.

Hennis
announced last month she wants to purchase a total of 37 JSF's to
replace the F-16 fleet. The Netherlands had already bought two test
planes. Ahead of a definitive decision on the replacement of the F-16
fleet, Hennis decided earlier to ground these test flights. Now that
a decision has been made to purchase the JSF, this is no longer
necessary.

The
planes will remain for now at Eglin airbase in Florida. At the end of
next year, they will be transferred to Edwards airbase in California
for the operational phase.

This
is not an irrevocable step, according to Hennis. But postponement of
the training would mean that the pilots would have insufficient
experience when the operational test phase began in 2015.